This autumn marks 30 years since the beginning of the coupon privatization, during which thousands of companies changed owners. Even after years, there are almost 200,000 people who are actually much richer than they think. They own shares and dividend claims, about which they usually have no idea. In total, it can be about ten billion crowns. The new online service should help owners raise money before claims become time-barred.
Coupon privatization took place in the Czech Republic in two waves from 1992 to 1994. Each wave had a preliminary round in which people could entrust their investment points to one of the privatization funds (the funds then invested the entrusted coupons), and several rounds – the first wave five, the second six.
Millions of Czechs and Slovaks took part in the redistribution of a huge amount of property from state hands to private ownership in the 1990s. Most of them have already closed their investments with various results, but there are still approximately 750,000 unclassified asset accounts in the records of the Central Securities Depository, which their owners have forgotten.
“Valuable shares contain only a small part of them, but they are still up to 200,000 property accounts. About a third of this number goes to homeowners who no longer live. Even after deducting them, however, we are talking about almost 100,000 people who own property, about which they often have no idea, “ describes the founder of the startup Forgotten Billions Daniel Surmař.
It is his project that is to help the forgotten shares from the coupon privatization find, monetize them and thus make a definitive point behind the coupon. All you need is basic information about the potential owner and quick lustration through zapomenutemiliardy.cz.
“No one has to worry about looking for a coupon book. The entire service is online and fully free until we discover valuable stocks. So people don’t have to worry about leaving us at a loss, “ adds Surmař. According to him, the service is also intended for heirs who need to verify whether the shares originally owned by their deceased relatives have not been forgotten within the inheritance proceedings.
The project will verify not only the possible ownership of shares or dividend claims, but also the possibility to monetize them easily and quickly. “Trading on stock exchanges is a relatively complex matter requiring the completion of many forms and knowledge of the functioning of capital markets. Not everyone can do it alone. In addition, a substantial part of the valuable shares from the coupon can not even be sold on the stock exchange, because they are not publicly traded companies. “ concludes Surmar.
– .
